Attack the only option for defensive Switzerland
Source: Agencies |
June 25, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SWITZERLAND'S resolute defense has won many World Cup plaudits though the focus must be on attack when it faces Honduras in their last Group H game today as it bids for a place in the last 16.
There are a host of possibilities heading into the final two games with Chile, on six points, facing Spain on three with Switzerland, also on three, playing Honduras (0).
Ottmar Hitzfeld's Switzerland grabbed the headlines with an 1-0 win over European champion Spain and briefly hogged them again, albeit before losing 0-1 to Chile, as it set a World Cup record of 558 minutes without conceding a goal.
The Swiss would enjoy another spell in the limelight with a two-goal win over Honduras and a draw would be enough if Spain loses. If both matches are drawn, Chile and Spain go through.
Honduras has a faint chance if it beats Switzerland and Spain loses to Chile, in which case it could advance on goal difference if it can overturn a four-goal deficit on Spain.
Chile has a goal difference of plus two, Spain plus one and Switzerland nought while Honduras is on minus three. Chile, Spain and Switzerland could all finish on six points, making goal difference a key weapon and one the Swiss must make their priority against a Honduras side yet to score.
"We know that with a two-goal margin we will qualify. We do not want to depend on other results," Hitzfeld said on Wednesday.
The Swiss, who have only scored once so far, must swap a cautious defensive game for fast attacking play while also protecting seven players one booking away from a suspension. "The game against Honduras is like a Champions League semifinal. I relish such games. These 90 minutes will be very intensive," Hitzfeld said in Bloemfontein.
Honduras, whose only other World Cup appearance was in 1982, has struggled to create chances and the impoverished nation will put its faith in fit-again striker David Suazo.
For Switzerland, midfielder Valon Behrami will be absent through suspension after being red carded in the defeat by Chile so Tranquillo Barnetta could come into the side.
There are a host of possibilities heading into the final two games with Chile, on six points, facing Spain on three with Switzerland, also on three, playing Honduras (0).
Ottmar Hitzfeld's Switzerland grabbed the headlines with an 1-0 win over European champion Spain and briefly hogged them again, albeit before losing 0-1 to Chile, as it set a World Cup record of 558 minutes without conceding a goal.
The Swiss would enjoy another spell in the limelight with a two-goal win over Honduras and a draw would be enough if Spain loses. If both matches are drawn, Chile and Spain go through.
Honduras has a faint chance if it beats Switzerland and Spain loses to Chile, in which case it could advance on goal difference if it can overturn a four-goal deficit on Spain.
Chile has a goal difference of plus two, Spain plus one and Switzerland nought while Honduras is on minus three. Chile, Spain and Switzerland could all finish on six points, making goal difference a key weapon and one the Swiss must make their priority against a Honduras side yet to score.
"We know that with a two-goal margin we will qualify. We do not want to depend on other results," Hitzfeld said on Wednesday.
The Swiss, who have only scored once so far, must swap a cautious defensive game for fast attacking play while also protecting seven players one booking away from a suspension. "The game against Honduras is like a Champions League semifinal. I relish such games. These 90 minutes will be very intensive," Hitzfeld said in Bloemfontein.
Honduras, whose only other World Cup appearance was in 1982, has struggled to create chances and the impoverished nation will put its faith in fit-again striker David Suazo.
For Switzerland, midfielder Valon Behrami will be absent through suspension after being red carded in the defeat by Chile so Tranquillo Barnetta could come into the side.
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